SYLLABUS FOR THE PRELIMINARY BEEKEEPING EXAMINATION - January 2018
Equipment
The student will be:
The student should be aware when opening a beehive and examining a colony it is possible to transfer disease between colonies. Good hygiene should be constantly observed. If the student has previously opened another person’s colony, particularly one that the state of health of which is not known, then he/she should launder the bee suit and sterilize the gloves and hive tool before opening another hive. Before opening the hive, the student should observe the hive activity carefully from the outside and test any conclusions made later when the hive is open. While examining a colony frames should not be placed on the ground and the student should also have a spare hive floor on which to stack brood boxes and supers as they are removed from the hive.
The student will be:
Natural History of the Honeybee
The student will be:
Beekeeping
The student will be:
Disease and Poisoning
The student will:
Since Varroa mites are reared in the brood comb..
The student will be:
The student will be:
- able to name the parts of a modern beehive
- aware of the concept of the bee space and its significance in the modern hive
- able to assemble a frame and fit it with wax foundation and properly nail the frame
- aware of the reasons for the use of wax foundation
- aware of the various spacing of combs in the brood chamber and super for both foundation and drawn comb
The student should be aware when opening a beehive and examining a colony it is possible to transfer disease between colonies. Good hygiene should be constantly observed. If the student has previously opened another person’s colony, particularly one that the state of health of which is not known, then he/she should launder the bee suit and sterilize the gloves and hive tool before opening another hive. Before opening the hive, the student should observe the hive activity carefully from the outside and test any conclusions made later when the hive is open. While examining a colony frames should not be placed on the ground and the student should also have a spare hive floor on which to stack brood boxes and supers as they are removed from the hive.
The student will be:
- aware of the need for care and attention when handling a colony of honeybees
- aware of the reactions of honeybees to smoke
- aware of the personal equipment needed to open a colony of honeybees
- able to open a colony of honeybees and keep the colony under control
- able to demonstrate the use of smoke
- able to demonstrate the use of the hive tool
- able to remove combs from the hive and identify worker, drone and queen cells or cups if present and to comment on the state of the combs and check if any disease is evident
- able to identify members of the three castes, identify brood at all stages
- able to demonstrate the difference between drone, worker, and honey cappings
- able to identify stored nectar, honey and pollen and decide if there are enough stores
- able to decide if the queen has enough room and if more super room needed
- able to decide if the hive temper is acceptable or should some action be taken
- able to catch a sample of worker bees in a matchbox for disease examination
Natural History of the Honeybee
The student will be:
- able to give an elementary account of production of queens, workers and drones in the honeybee colony
- aware of the existence of laying workers and drone laying queens
- able to specify the periods spent by each caste in the four stages of its life cycle (egg, larva, pupa, adult)
- able to read the hive like a book: be able from an examination of eggs, larval age and cappings to estimate when the queen was present
- able to give an elementary description of the function of the members of each caste if the life of the colony
- Have an appreciation of wax production by the worker bee and the use of this wax by the bee
- able to give a simple definition of nectar and describe how it is collected and brought back to the hive
- able to name the main local flora from which honeybees gather pollen and nectar
- able to give a simple description how nectar is converted into honey
- aware of the use of nectar and honey in the life of the colony
- aware of the collection of water and its uses in the colony
- able to give a simple description of the collection of pollen and its importance in the life of the colony and also its importance in our lives
- able to describe the origins, collection, and use of propolis in the honeybee colony
- able to give an elementary description of swarming in a honeybee colony
- able to give an elementary description of the way in which the honeybee colony passes the winter period
Beekeeping
The student will be:
- able to give an elementary description of the siting of colonies
- able to give an elementary description of the year's work in the apiary and the management of a colony throughout a season
- able to describe how and when to feed bees and the preparation of syrup
- aware of the need to add supers and the timing of the operations
- aware of the use of the queen excluder
- able to give an elementary account of one method of swarm control
- able to describe how to take a honeybee swarm and how to hive it
- aware of the condition of queenlessness
- be able to perform a test for queenlessness, in case the queen has stopped laying
- able to describe the signs of laying workers and a drone laying queen
- able to describe how a queenless hive may be re-queened
- aware of the dangers of robbing and how robbing can be avoided
Disease and Poisoning
The student will:
Since Varroa mites are reared in the brood comb..
- Be able to indicate on the comb which cells are preferred by the mite for breeding.
- Be able to state at least one approved treatment in the students own country.
- Be able to indicate which cappings might look suspect.
- Be able to demonstrate, using a matchstick, how a field test for AFB could be done.
- Be able to state where a comb sample containing the diseased brood should be sent for testing.
- Be able to discern, if larvae in the comb have the proper “C” shape, colour and segmentation which healthy larvae exhibit.
- Be able to state where a comb sample containing the diseased brood should be sent for testing.
- be able to describe the appearance of healthy brood and how it differs from diseased brood or chilled brood
- be aware of acarine, nosema and amoeba and their effect upon the colony
- know how to obtain expert assistance if any disease or poisoning by toxic chemicals is suspected
The student will be:
- able to describe the methods used to clear honeybees from supers
- able to describe the process of the extraction of honey from supers
- able to describe what hygienic conditions which must be observed when extracting honey in one’s home, and particularly the preparation and labelling if the honey is intended for sale
- aware of the value of bees to farmers and growers and of the hiring of colonies for pollination services
- able to describe a way in which comb can be stored to prevent wax moth damage
- able to describe a way by which mice can be excluded from the hives in winter
